Kalas Funeral Home & Crematory

Jeanne Marie Trainor Hemmer passed away peacefully at home on February 13, 2024, at the age of 89. She was born in Providence, Rhode Island on May 28, 1934, to the late Emmett and Florence Trainor. Her family moved to Washington, DC, when Jeanne was seven. She attended grade school at St. Peter’s Catholic School in Washington, DC. When failing eyesight became total blindness, Jeanne attended the Maryland School for the Blind for two years learning to read Braille and to travel using a cane, grade level academics and   essential activities of daily living. In 1950, alongside her sister Anita, Jeanne began high school attending St. Patrick’s Academy. Upon graduation from St. Patrick’s she married Donald Hemmer, Sr on June 4, 1954.

Jeanne was a devoted wife, and loving mother to their ten children. She had a deep love of God and passed that on to her children and grandchildren. After raising her own children, she devoted a lot of her time to helping to care for her grandchildren and providing after school and sick day care. We couldn’t have done it without her! 

She loved music, and sang frequently throughout the day, whether she was cleaning, cooking, folding the never-ending laundry or rocking one of her babies, and later her grandbabies and great grandbabies. Through her teenage years, Mom liked to write poetry. Her parents, aunt, and siblings were the main subjects of her poems, but one poem she entitled “Pals of Our Childhood” about playing junior commandos during World War II. In her poetry, mom frequently thanked God for her family and especially for her boyfriend/husband. She enjoyed going to the beach, hearing the waves break against the shore, walking in the snow, and even sometimes sleigh riding down Uncle Paul’s hill with us children. 

About a year after marrying, mom traded her typewriter for bottles and diapers that lasted a span of 22 years. As her children went through school, mom was instrumental in teaching each of us the writing process. Writing was in her blood. One day a beloved Kindergarten teacher, Miss. Whelan, called to ask mom to write a short poem for the Kindergarteners to recite at their end of year ceremony. Quick with a rhyme, mom composed and dictated the poem to Miss. Whelan over the phone. Sadly, we do not have a copy of the poem.

Jeanne was preceded in death by her beloved husband of 40 years Donald Hemmer Sr, (1932-1994) their oldest son Donald Hemmer Jr, (1955-2023) and her brother Emmett Trainor (1931-2015).

Jeanne is survived by nine children, Mary (Mark) Freeman, Kathleen (Danny) Giancoli, Patricia (Frank) Constantino, John, Timothy (Theresa), Thomas (Tricia), Robert (Lisa), Steven and Daniel (Renee) Hemmer; her daughter-in-law Michiko Hemmer (Donald Jr); 28 grandchildren Denise (Patrick) Fines, Donald Charles III (Martina), David Joseph (Carrie), Michael (Ellen), and Michelle Hemmer; Steven (Jill), Christopher (Sarah), Robert, Kathleen (Blake) Stamford and Daniel Freeman; Marcia and Thomas (Christy) Stanley; Nicholas (Samantha) Giancoli, Angela (Dan) Mauser; Michael (Christine) and Frank Jr (Tiffany) Constantino, and Amanda (Kevin) Boteler; Judy (Chris) Gray, Lacy (Daniel) Luppino and Timothy (Shyanne) Hemmer; Holly (Andrew) Mona, Megan (Joey) Heying and Kerianne Hemmer; Kristin (Mike) Schuster and Nicole Hemmer; Jason, Reid and Kaiden Hemmer, and 44 great-grandchildren – and one on the way! Jeanne is also survived by her brother Paul Trainor Sr, sister Anita Harrison, and numerous nieces and nephews. 

Relatives and friends are invited to Jeanne's Life Celebration on Thursday, February 29, 2024 from 2 to 4 and 6 to 8 p.m. at the KALAS FUNERAL HOME & CREMATORY, 6160 Oxon Hill Rd., Oxon Hill, MD 20745. Mass of Christian Burial will be offered on Friday, March 1. 2024 at 12 noon at St Anthony's Catholic Church, 8816 Chesapeake Ave., North Beach, MD 20714. Interment to follow at Resurrection Cemetery, 8000 Woodyard Rd., Clinton, MD 20735. In lieu of flowers, family and friends may make a memorial contribution to Hospice of the Chesapeake in Jeanne’s name. 


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Jeanne Marie Hemmer

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